New grad in L&D. Are these things normal?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

I am a new grad (RN) with no hospital experience aside from nursing school. This is my experience on the L&D floor I am in. I've come to you all because I don't know what is normal in the healthcare setting. So I am often left alone. On half of my first day orienting as Baby Nurse, I was left alone. My preceptor would leave and I could not find her. On my second day as baby nurse, she called out and I was ALONE.I told them that I did not feel safe doing this and they told me They would not leave me alone and assist me. The charge nurse stayed with me for the first few seconds of life and then would leave. We are always swamped. Our director does not allow the staff to call safe harbor. Which I heard was illegal. Instead she gets on the floor to "Help" although she doesn't have much experience and needs a lot of help,which takes away time from other nurses.

I have tried to seek help and additional resources from my nurse educator but she has been working on the floor swamped with patients and doesn't have time to help me. During my first few weeks we were so swamped that my preceptor would often just take over and I couldn't really do much. MY first few weeks consisted of hemmorhages, stat sections and mothers who were rushed in transitioning. Tensions are high, everyone is always yelling at each other in front of patients. etc. What baffles me is the conversations that go on. One nurse thought it was hilarious that she didn't help a triage patient in time and she almost gave birth on the floor. They constantly make fun of patients especially the ones that go natural they say things like ughhh "Why are they screaming they need to shut the ***** up"! They were disgusted that an incontinent patient was pregnant. They said some of the meanest things about her and how disgusting she was for wearing diapers and having sex. When I ask for help they just stare at me and sit on their behinds and ignore me.

I don't understand it, never have I worked in a place with such insensitive, grumpy, depressed people. Is this the way nursing is everywhere? I have thick skin, but I will never find pleasure in another person's pain. They gossip about patients in front of other patients and families. Once they ware talking about how they would abandon their patients especially the epidural patients in the time of a disaster, active shooter or fire. This conversation was going on at the nurses station with families walking in the halls. They were not joking either.

I am just so disgusted, I have thick skin and I may not know much about the healthcare field but I have lived a very hard life and I have lived through things probably most of these nurses haven't. I am professional and compassionate. SO tell me, is this the norm.

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Paragraphs, my dear!!

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Not normal, and get the hell out of there. Make a report to the BoN and the DPH while you're at it.

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I I am just so disgusted, I have thick skin and I may not know much about the healthcare field but I have lived a very hard life and I have lived through things probably most of these nurses haven't. I am professional and compassionate. SO tell me, is this the norm.

I don't believe you are as thick skinned as you claim if this bothered you as much as it did (and judging by the long rant of a post prior to being edited by a mod). It feels like you have a superiority complex over them with that last line about having a hard life. I doubt you know what they lived through to make such an assessment.

what you may not realize is that sometimes humor is the best medicine. it may 'disgust' you but maybe that's how those seasoned nurses pull themselves out of such an environment, which you yourself described as hectic. If they're as busy as they are, what makes you think they can take on you as a baby RN on top of their workload? Are they even getting paid extra to take you on when your scheduled preceptor bailed on you?

As long as they are not mistreating the patients, I don't see an issue. What is happening is that you are not OK with the culture of the nurses there and you should talk to them about it. But to say that you're this new nurse who's soooo tough and presumably better and not getting any attention...it sounds like the typical "me me me me" generation.

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That's a pretty long rant about me. And it's funny that you made an assessment about me. How do you know for certain that I am part of the ME Me generation? There is no way that I feel superior or tougher than these nurses. If anything I can learn so much from them. But I do not expect handouts. I come home and study my behind off. I do feel that this is wrong and I have come here for advice. And no, that is not how you get through a hectic day by delaying care because you are too busy on social media, and then making fun of a patient that is in immense pain! Have you ever been in labor?Do you realize what the outcome could have been? Do you realize that there is another life/patient in her that you cannot see?

(I would start a new paragraph but I'm on my phone and I don't know how) Whether the nurse gets paid or not to precept me it is not the issue. Quality Patient care should be provided. If I am wrong feeling that this was a dangerous situation for all mothers and babies that day please let me know and I will move forward . Thanks

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I've worked OB at 4 different hospitals all over the country, and NO!! THIS IS NOT NORMAL!! OR OKAY!!

You are being horribly shortchanged. It's not fair to you, and it's not SAFE for your patients. Not to mention the utter lack of respect for the patients demonstrated by the other nurses. Find another job. I promise you, it's NOT like this everywhere.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
I don't believe you are as thick skinned as you claim if this bothered you as much as it did (and judging by the long rant of a post prior to being edited by a mod). It feels like you have a superiority complex over them with that last line about having a hard life. I doubt you know what they lived through to make such an assessment.

what you may not realize is that sometimes humor is the best medicine. it may 'disgust' you but maybe that's how those seasoned nurses pull themselves out of such an environment, which you yourself described as hectic. If they're as busy as they are, what makes you think they can take on you as a baby RN on top of their workload? Are they even getting paid extra to take you on when your scheduled preceptor bailed on you?

As long as they are not mistreating the patients, I don't see an issue. What is happening is that you are not OK with the culture of the nurses there and you should talk to them about it. But to say that you're this new nurse who's soooo tough and presumably better and not getting any attention...it sounds like the typical "me me me me" generation.

IMO this whole post is totally off-base.

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Thank you kindly for your response, I don't know what to do, and gives me comfort kowing this is not the norm. You have given me HOPE!

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IMO this whole post is totally off-base.

Yeah, I'm going to agree with her. Sorry, as an L&D nurse, I have to state for the record, the OP has every right to be alarmed and to complain. By leaving an untrained, unchaperoned, NEW GRAD nurse in deliveries to resus babies at deliveries, YES, they are in fact mistreating patients. Labor and delivery is not all balloons and ribbons and happy babies. When the poo hits the fan it does so very quickly and people can end up permanently damaged and/or dead if you don't act appropriately or don't have enough properly trained help.

OP, get the heck out of there. That place is a waking nightmare and sentinel event waiting to happen.

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Specializes in PDN; Burn; Phone triage.
I don't believe you are as thick skinned as you claim if this bothered you as much as it did (and judging by the long rant of a post prior to being edited by a mod). It feels like you have a superiority complex over them with that last line about having a hard life. I doubt you know what they lived through to make such an assessment.

what you may not realize is that sometimes humor is the best medicine. it may 'disgust' you but maybe that's how those seasoned nurses pull themselves out of such an environment, which you yourself described as hectic. If they're as busy as they are, what makes you think they can take on you as a baby RN on top of their workload? Are they even getting paid extra to take you on when your scheduled preceptor bailed on you?

As long as they are not mistreating the patients, I don't see an issue. What is happening is that you are not OK with the culture of the nurses there and you should talk to them about it. But to say that you're this new nurse who's soooo tough and presumably better and not getting any attention...it sounds like the typical "me me me me" generation.

Did we even read the same post? I swear that some people exist solely on this site just to be contrary.

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Did we even read the same post? I swear that some people exist solely on this site just to be contrary.

Right, that's my sole existence...

Here's where I think OP went wrong - it's not about her being left on her own, or the environment there that she may disagree with - she made a point to say that she had it tougher than they did growing up and didn't think the other nurses on that unit seemed to be answering her newbie questions. It's all in how one interprets things. My questions posed were asking OP to realize what the situation may be like on the other shoe because I am seeing new threads where it's really the "me" POV and I think this is yet another one of those. Never once did OP question if the actions of the nurses towards her adversely impacted patient care, which is what I was responding to. The complaints were: I'm alone, we're busy, other nurses make fun of patients, they are disgruntled/depressed, I'm much tougher than they are (which has as much to do with the price of tea in China, not sure why she threw that tidbit in there), is this normal ie I'm in a living hell get me out of here.

And to paraphrase, I said look at it from the other nurses perspective, humor is something that we use to get through the day, they weren't badmouthing patients in front of them, I still don't see the point in saying she's tougher than they ever were. Nowhere did I say this was a safe environment, and honestly I think OP should pack it up. Not because of the safety issues, but because she obviously does not fit in that culture.

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Nope it's not normal. And ignore people that talk smack for asking.

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